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In the penultimate part of his series Service Management specialist Nick Frank takes a look for that secret magic formula that creates winning companies in field service.... 

It sounds too obvious, but companies who ‘plan’ for success, are more likely to get results from their service transformation programmes. So found Dr Wolfgang Ulaga, Professor at the IMD Business School when researching how companies transform their service business profitably.  He identified that companies who release their service potential have done so not only because they were well positioned to deliver value, but because they had an explicit and supported plan. (an interesting guy and would well recommend reading his Harvard Business Review Article on service transformation)

But why do we need a professor to tell us this!  Most well run companies have a planning cycle that lays out the financial numbers and the high level strategies to achieve their objectives. It always surprises me how many leaders of transformation believe that this is enough. It’s not!

Yes, experience says that the plan has to be clear and ‘light’ enough to inspire the team and colleagues. Yet it has to be backed by the detailed analysis which gives it credibility not only to business leaders, but also your agents of change themselves. This means the plan has to be explicit. It has to describe the detail of how strategies are achieved and most importantly it must be written down!

So managers wanting successfully drive transformation programmes should prioritise their resources, whether that be their own time or a programme manager into developing the plan. The more the stakeholders are involved, the more credible and supported it will be. The more senior management support managers have, the more likely that the resources required will be committed. But what are we talking about:

 

• Put in place strong project management resources with a governance structure and steering team that has the muscle to move many of the obstacles you might face
• Clearly define the objectives for the projects that will get you to your goal.  Each should have a kind of charter that defines the project in detail and most importantly who is responsible for what. The charter should show the expected outcomes and the impact on the business
•  Clearly define the objectives for the projects that will get you to your goal.  Each should have a kind of charter that defines the project in detail and most importantly who is responsible for what. The charter should show the expected outcomes and the impact on the business
• Plan out the investments you require and the potential timing. More and more we see companies looking to rationalise their business systems and will cost time as well as money. This is especially true in the implementation phase. So the motto is ‘Be Prepared’.
• Ensure your plan clearly identifies early wins to demonstrate success to your management and help them keep faith with the vision
• Make sure that your communication strategy is built into your plan. Often great ideas fail because the troops are not sure what is expected of them.

The last remaining piece of the puzzle is that your plan needs to be back by the decision makers of your business. It’s not just a question of a polite yes in the annual business plan review. It needs real commitment such as being part of your governance structure or taking a very active and vocal interest. If you don’t see this, be very aware!

The list could go on and on, but these are the main factors. If you are faced with planning change then at Noventum you can see what a Transformation Road map looks like, or experience developing your own by attending a Service Leadership Course .

 

Pete Sharpe, Managing Consultant, Leadent Solutions looks at how the role of IT Management is beginning to evolve into something far more sophisticated than turning it off and on again... 

I recently read that 60% of IT projects fail to deliver on time and on budget. It’s not hard to see why - in the last decade new technologies have changed the way a business works considerably. Information technology has reached every last corner of industry moving at break-neck speed.

IT projects are no longer confined to implementing one system in one area of the business and with larger IT projects becoming far more complex with tightly integrated solutions, IT Project Managers need to move beyond the comfort of the IT department to interact with others such as Operations, Finance and Shared Services, which means that they will have to lead the organisational change required to meet their project goals.

 

IT Project Managers used to be safe in the knowledge that they were called upon for their technical skills alone, it wasn’t imperative that they think strategically or have to communicate complex plans to anyone outside of their immediate project team and sponsor.

Today however, IT Project Managers are not only required to deliver complex projects on time and on budget, they are also expected to address the impact on the business, align technology strategy to the business objectives and consider the approach to change required to ensure the project is a success. In short, to succeed IT Project Managers must think like business professionals not just technical ones.

A new set of skills

In order for IT Project Managers to succeed in their new roles it is essential that they build their Communication, Leadership and Business Change skills.

In every project there is a demand from the relevant business areas for subject matter experts to advise and facilitate the business impact and change management. Whilst this is critical to all project deliveries, the impact on the day-to-day business operation is often underestimated and not planned as well as it could be.

By enabling and empowering IT Project Managers to manage and influence relationships across the business, whilst simultaneously championing the new technology they are implementing, businesses can avoid the sudden pull on key resources.

 

These core skills will allow Project Managers to look at the broader context of the project across the organisation and understand the impact that this will have on people and culture, and importantly allow them to create joint IT and business plans to pre-empt the resource requirement.

IT Project Managers need to be equipped to deal with the human side of IT projects, ensuring that change is embraced, adopted and utilised and in turn this will allow them to be more aware of the impact upon people, process and technology across the organisation.

Business Transformation is no longer an event, it is a method for continuous improvement. By embracing the change in concept and through robust succession planning the IT Project Managers of tomorrow can help businesses to avoid the associated cost spike of a business-wide transformation programme, provide accurate capital investment plans that align to the business strategy and manage the change as though it were business as usual.

A unified approach

The most effective projects will take a unified approach, implementing change on both technical and people fronts. By enabling IT Project Managers to look at both the technical and human side of projects, the efforts become focussed toward a singular objective. The flow of information is integrated so that at the front-end employees are receiving timely information and appropriate messages whilst at the back-end, the project team is receiving effective feedback on usage and adoption.

This allows a fluid and dynamic approach, a blend of the traditional ‘Agile’ and ‘Waterfall’ without the rigidity and restrictions but inclusive of the appropriate methodology required to ensure that the right steps can be taken at the right time in the project lifecycle, engaging employees and allowing them to embrace the changes being made.

IT Project Managers need to be held accountable for the success of the project as a whole – not just hitting the go-live date. After all, the success of an IT project should be measureable through results and outcomes – not just time and budget, but by tangible, realised business benefits, a reduction in ‘run-the-business’ costs and how the solution has been embraced, adopted and utilised by the organisation.

 

IT Project Management and Business Change are complementary disciplines with a common objective. If IT Project Managers of the future are enabled to deliver a unified approach then far more IT projects will be successful.

As part of an exclusive series on twenty first century service management sponsored by Advanced Field Service, Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland takes a look at how to decide when it becomes unprofitable to take on a deal…

There is also an exceptional eBook that accompanies this series which you can access by clicking here

It is the perennial internal struggle that so many field service companies face. In the race to grow your service business are you at risk at accepting business that ultimately will impact your bottom line in a negative fashion?

We have all been faced with that one bit of business that could have potentially have a wider tangible benefit for our business (such as raising our profile in front of a new sector) yet the profit margin is so tight that it makes taking that business a worthless exercise when reviewed in the cold black and white figures of a profit and loss sheet. Taking a different approach to the same challenge, can the sheer effort to maintain business viability – and keep your engineers working out in the field – become an easy temptation despite the fact that it may ultimately lead to the overall failure of a business?

All too often we witness some field service businesses being tempted to take on clients with narrow profit margins, which is a very dangerous path to tread to say the least.

To build a truly sustainable business, you need to be able to focus on the jobs, contracts and clients that are most profitable, rather than trying to be all things to all clients.

So for those responsible for enduring their field service operation remains profitable it’s absolutely critical to take the time to occasionally step back and analyse your client base. Understand each of your clients (and prospective clients) and try to identify those that fit within the two following categories…

Clients who are already profitable:

• How can you quantify for them the work that you do, so that it is recognised and suitably remunerated?
• How can you keep these clients ‘locked in’ by delivering service beyond the agreed service level agreement (SLA) but without draining your resources and revenues?

Clients who could become more profitable:

• How could you better manage the time you spend on their projects?
• Can you identify where you are providing more than you agreed within the contract and budget?
• Do you have an evidence base that will support you in negotiating with clients to pay more or expect less?

Clients who are unlikely to ever become sustainably profitable:

• How could you readdress the balance and bring these clients back within acceptable parameters?
• If the evidence shows these clients are always going to be an excessive drain on resources, do you need to make the difficult decision to agree to go your separate ways in order to free up your engineers’ valuable time for more profitable jobs?

If you can gain a better understanding of each and every client’s worth to the business, you’ll be well placed to decide where to invest your resources for optimum return, both in retaining clients and also in pursuing new business. There may be that one occasional client that it could be argued will bring greater business value to your organisation even if they fall in to the latter camp. However, even these clients must be fully understood.

The potential benefits of working with such a client can and must be translated into a quantifiable figure, and that figure should be reviewed over time to see if the initial predictions are being validated. For example if you take on one client who is a leader within their field, the theory of Social Proof should lead to some others within that field joining you also. How much is that additional business worth? More importantly does it counter balance the loss leader? If the answer is no then quite bluntly you should be walking away from it all.

Making tough decisions

Admittedly, turning work away is never easy to do, but it can also free up your expensive resources to focus on where they can bring best return. This is where it becomes absolutely essential to have transparency between divisions and to train your sales force, who are almost certainly focussed solely on revenue, to begin focussing on profit instead. It is madness to incentivise an individual on revenue from a product sale if ultimately your organisation is going to lose on service revenue in the long term.

Unfortunately the sales of product and service remain isolated in so many organisations, and even today I here anecdotally of huge service contracts being bundled in for free as ‘added value’. This is a slow train to disaster and companies still employing such a quick buck style of sales are destined for failure. Such an approach should be consigned to the 80’s where quick turn over was king.

Successful businesses in the new millennium understand the long term value proposition of service, indeed the bleeding edge companies moving towards a servitization model are showing us a path that truly benefits both client and vendor. Service is the long stay foundation on which profitable businesses are now being built upon. And whilst moving to such a model requires a radical rethink of core business strategies, modern technology plays an incredibly important part in enabling this shift.

At the most basic level your service management solution needs to give you the advantage of arming you with the evidence and information you need.

As mentioned previously, there may be good reasons to bid for contracts which you know from the start will generate very little profit: a project may have particular prestige attached to it or it may extend your portfolio by taking your practice into a new market/territory.

However, before bidding for such work, you’ll want to quantify the risks and have measures in place to contain any losses so that they don’t overwhelm your business and become a bottomless pit. If you can draw on a solid foundation of knowledge of costs and time for previous similar contracts, you will have a better understanding of the commitment you are making and the potential risks.

With contracts of this nature, it is more important than ever to keep to the requirements set out in the SLA. Set clear expectations at the start, apply strong change control, and have a process to handle requests from the client for additional work.

This feature is part of a series exploring Service Management in the twenty first century and is accompanied by the excellent eBook The Service Management Handbook 2014 which is published by Advanced Field Service.

To Download your copy of this incredible resource click here and complete the brief form.

This feature is sponsored by:

Want to know more about Advanced Field Service? Check out their page in the Field Service News Directory by clicking this link.

 

 

The Service Community’s Manchester Event attracted over thirty delegates from a broad spectrum of small, medium and large organisations with guests travelling from as far afield as Brazil and the USA. The growth of The Community by more than 75% since the Special Event in June underscores that this clearly taps into the real desire to share best practice, debate relevant issues and network with like-minded professionals...

The generous host on this occasion was Siemens Industry GB&I coordinated by Graeme Coyne, who personally welcomed all guests in the impressive ‘Sir William Siemens House’ facilities in the outskirts of South-West Manchester.

Aston Business School’s Professor Tim Baines opened with a truly engaging and interactive key note presentation focused on “the challenges faced by UK Manufacturers as they adopt Servitisation as a Growth Strategy”. This insight into some of the pitfalls that face an organisation as they adopt advanced service offerings, supported by pertinent academic research and analysis, was both a warning and highly educational. This fabulous opening set the standard for an informative and entertaining afternoon.

[quote]In the spirit of topical content, the audience was treated to an innovative view of the potential of remote servicing equipment and the Internet of Things

In the spirit of topical content, the audience was treated to an innovative view of the potential of remote servicing equipment and the Internet of Things. John Pritchard of MAC Solutions explored the trends in device connectivity, leveraging the revelation that the number of connected devices exceeds the number of people on the planet. With this point in mind, John described techniques and cost savings in a forward thinking delivery that included a live software demonstration.

 

Both these opening presentations generated great interest from the audience, and led to a lively networking break that enabled guests to further explore their questions more personally with the speakers.

The networking break seemed to pass as a fleeting blur; however, the promise of further insights lured back the eager delegates. Martin Hottass rose to the challenge as he laid down the gauntlet that the Field Service Industry is facing the retirement of a quarter of engineers in the next 10 years! Martin, responsible for Skills & Professional Education at Siemens Energy didn’t just leave us worried about this startling demographic certainty but went on to explain techniques and government funding options available to organisations to help build apprenticeships and graduate recruitment programmes within the industry.

The final keynote offered a case study delivered by Daniel Kingham from Elekta (manufacturers of medical equipment). The fascinating study illustrated how migrating from a solely field based operation to a jointly managed remote and field based service operation transformed the customer experience. Daniel’s empirical expertise was evident and he smoothly handled an abundance of questions which truly demonstrated his knowledge and left the audience satiated.

Once again, The Service Community delivered on its objectives. The content of the meetings remains the life-blood of The Community, followed closely by the generosity of community members to host events and volunteer time to keep The Service Community alive. To this point, the next event is proposed for March 2015 – date and location to be confirmed.

Want to know more about the Service Community? Click here for more information and resources including presentation slides!

The services sector has traditionally been guided by a succession of rules, regulations and policies that, hopefully, make us all better at supporting our customers and the global business economy, as a whole argues Strategies For Growth℠’s (SFG℠) President, Bill Pollock...

Many of these guidelines mirror other aspects of our lives as well, such as “Mind your Manners”, “Mind your Own Business” and – of course, “Mind the Gap!” However, no guideline may be as important to the services community as “Mind the Metrics” – and this is particularly well evidenced in the UK & EMEA geographies.

In fact, a special cut of the results from Strategies For Growth℠’s (SFG℠) 2014 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey reveal that, for the UK/EMEA services community, “developing/improving the metrics, or KPIs, used to measure Field Service Performance” is the number one strategic action currently being taken, as cited by nearly two-thirds (i.e., 64%) of survey respondents (Figure 1). No other strategic actions are cited by as many as half of respondents, although “investing in mobile tools to support field technicians” rates fairly high at 49%, followed by “improving planning and forecasting with respect to field service operations” at just over one-third (i.e., 34%).

This is no surprise to Steve Alderson, Managing Director at Cognito, a leading, UK-based provider of mobile workforce management solutions to field service organisations, who corroborates that “This exactly reflects what we are hearing from the industry with service organisations facing intense pressure from competitors and rising customer expectations. These survey results confirm the strong sense in the market that getting a better understanding of field service metrics is critical to improving overall performance.”

The primary Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), or metrics, currently being used by a majority of UK/EMEA Field Services Organisations (FSOs) include:

• 78% Customer Satisfaction
• 75% Total Service Revenue/Turnover
• 68% Total Service Cost
• 53% Field Technician Utilisation (i.e., time spent performing repairs ÷ total hours)
• 53% Percent of Total Service Revenue under Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• 51% Service Revenue, as a Percent of Total Company Revenues
• 51% Service Revenue, per Field Technician

It is interesting to note, however, that most of the primary KPIs that were being used when many of us were just breaking into the business, while still important, are typically only used today by a minority of services organisations (i.e., on-site response time and first-time-fix-rate, each cited by 49%; SLA compliance and mean-time-to-repair/MTTR, each cited by 47%; and several others). However, what the data do not show is a diminution of importance among the old ‘tried and true’ KPIs, but, rather, an increased emphasis among those factors that are most influential today with respect to customer satisfaction, field tech utilisation and – oh, yes – the bottom line!

Most services industry analysts would also agree that you cannot – and should not – merely collect and tabulate the data – that is basically what a market research analyst firm does. Running a services organisation, however, is quite different, according to Alderson who suggests that, “Information without action is useless”. He continues, “As service organisations mature, and implement the next generation of mobile workforce management systems, sophisticated data gathering and analytical capabilities will be mandatory. However, the ability to act on the insights and knowledge gained, to improve field service performance, will be the key to thriving, not just surviving.”

But, why are KPIs so important to the overall well-being of the organisation? Because, for many, their service performance goals are simply not being met! For example, in the UK/EMEA services community:

• 32% of FSOs are not attaining at least 80% Customer Satisfaction

  (UK/EMEA average is 82% Customer Satisfaction)

• 28% of FSOs are not attaining at least 80% SLA Compliance

  (UK/EMEA average is 81% SLA Compliance)

•  26% of FSOs are not achieving at least 20% services profitability

  (UK/EMEA average is 35% Services Profitability)

For these reasons alone, between a quarter and a third (or more) of the UK/EMEA FSOs probably find themselves in the need for new and/or upgraded mobile workforce management technologies to run their organisations. Then, of course, they’ll still need to measure their performance along the way. It’s definitely time to “Mind the Metrics!”

We end our exclusive series on Change Management with a look at the final stage of Sharon Moura’s five step approach to change management leading through the adoption cycle…

Across this six part series we have looked at change management in depth, beginning with a look at the key principals of change management, before looking in detail at how Sharon Moura, VP of IT Transformation and Strategy with Tyco approached the change management process when implementing ServiceMax’s field service management system.

In doing so Moura applied five key steps which we have looked at in depth in this series. These were “assessing the change”, “engaging the head and the heart”, “creating a change agent network”, “leading through resistance” and here we look at the last of these steps “leading through the adoption cycle”

There is also a white paper that accompanies this series which you can access by clicking here

Looking at the adoption lifecycle Moura identifies four key segments that we should be aware of as the full adoption cycle of our change management program is completed.

These are:

• Early Adopters
• Majority
• Laggards
• Naysayers

Lets have a look at each of these in a little more detail.

Early Adopters

Moura is a clear believer in the power of utilising a core peer group of field engineers as early adopters when deploying technology as it offers a great opportunity to further improve adoption further down the line too.

“If there is any opportunity to bring early adopters in using the technology or even if it is just getting them in and seeing it you should do so” she explains “They can share their excitement at the deployment out amongst their peers”

Indeed early adopters are likely to give your change management program that ‘buzz’ amongst the staff that will see you move rapidly along the adoption lifecycle.

As Moura comments “What we can do here is we can highlight what the adoption will get them. The “what’s in it for me” and we can communicate the rationalisation of the change, “the why” and then we can build on the excitement generated by the change”

“Its great to have early adopters they’ll really help you gain momentum and quickly move to the next step of the adoption lifecycle.”

Majority

The next step is to get the majority of our workforce adopted. Now this isn’t as simple as switching their old systems off and their new systems on, which is a dangerous oversight to make and why many change management projects are either long, arduous processes or ultimately just fail.

If your staff are struggling to use your new solution then it will not be long before they are finding work-rounds. Before you know it spread sheets and post it notes are being used and your new system has become a burden on your field engineers when you it was supposed to improve efficiency.

 

Remember that your workers are generally focussed on doing their job and doing it well – this is why you employ them, so it’s not a case of them deliberately not using the new system for any other reason than they do not understand how to use it as part of their workflow.

To avoid this is therefore important that support continues throughout the adoption lifecycle. It is absolutely crucial that you are constantly reinforcing the benefits of the new system and perhaps one of the best ways of doing this is to highlight every win that comes as a result of the new solution.

Moura comments “Communicate the early adopter stories to the majority. Who’s using the system, what type of insight did they gain, where they able to do something faster? Keep a customer happier?”

Another tip Moura suggests is to ask each of the early adopters to tell at least two of their peers about the new system. “Get them to tell them what they learnt, what you know and your excitement around this initiative. That will help you to get the majority of employees adopting the new solution”

Laggards

It’s just a fact of life that some people will only make a switch at the very end of the cycle. Whether they don’t feel they have the time to pay attention to the switch or whether it’s just that they are reliant on seeing demonstrable benefit before they can commit to change it is certain there will be some laggards in your change management program, regardless of the change.

However, for your change management program to be successfully completed to achieve its maximum effect then you must give this group close attention.

 

“This is really where managers need to be front and centre going one on one with these empoyees” comments Moura

“It’s also a great opportunity for some of the early adopters to act as peer coaches. Assign a coach to these groups of laggards either one on one or in small groups to help them through the change” she added.

It’s also important to continue the work you began in the previous stage in the adoption lifecycle (Majority) in championing ach and every win and to remember to continue using multiple channels, whether it be company memo, social media or coffee room notice boards.

Nay Sayers

And finally we come to the last category in the adoption lifecycle, the Nay Sayers. These are those that just won’t be swayed. Unfortunately there comes a time in all change management programs when the effort put in begins to vastly outweigh the value you are getting out of it. At this point we need to evaluate the benefit of convincing these die-hard naysayers.

“My recommendation is to ignore the naysayers,” advises Moura. “Recognise when the pursuit is not worth the effort and make alternate plans”

This series of features on Change Management are accompanied by a white paper in the subject, which is available by clicking here and completing the brief registration form.

 
Click here to download the accompanying white paper

This series is sponsored by:

 

Part Five of an exclusive Field Service News interview with Dave Gordon, Rolls Royce.

Here Dave speaks about the challenges of sharing data between supplier and customer, however if these challenges can be overcome the relationships can become much more holistic and the service can become as close to seamless as is possible...

Missed part one of this excellent series? Find it here

Missed part two of this excellent series? Find it here

Missed part three of this excellent series? Find it here

Missed part four of this excellent series? Find it here
 
Want to see more? Subscribe to Field Service News by clicking this link and get access to download the full video in full.  

 

Our exclusive series on applying change management in field service continues as we look at the fourth of five key steps outlined by Sharon Moura, VP of IT Transformation and Strategy with Tyco as she moved the company to ServiceMax’s field service management platform…

So far in this series we have covered the key concepts of change management, then looked closer at the 5-step approach Moura herself took. These were assessing the change ,engaging the head and the heart and then in our most recent feature, building a change agent network.

There is also a white paper that accompanies this series, which you can download here.

As we mentioned earlier in this series the goal of a successful change management program should not be to completely eradicate resistance to change, as this is an almost impossible task that will take far too much energy.  However we must focus on reducing the impact of resistance, and overcoming it as quickly as possible to move the change management project from concept to full adoption as swiftly as possible.

A key element therefore in a successful change management program is minimising the impact of resistance in your workforce and to achieve this we must understand the types of resistance we are likely to encounter. According to Moura these will come in three broad categories.

1. I don’t get it
2. I don’t like (or trust) you
3. I don’t like it

So let’s take a look at each of these in turn.

I don’t get it.

This is an intellectual where there is a lack of understanding of the reason for your change management program. This is one area where it truly pays to become a broken record. If your cannot comprehend the change or are confused by why your change management project is being undertaken then getting their buy-in is going to be impossible to achieve.

[quote float ="left"]It is vitally important that you communicate across multiple different channels – not just resending the same memo over and over.

Therefore it is vitally important that you communicate across multiple different channels – not just resending the same memo over and over. The content here is critical, before you dive straight into the ‘how’ things will be changing you need to make sure you have fully addressed the ‘why’ and again as we have mentioned in previous features position yourself in your employees shoes and outline why it is beneficial to them not just to the company as whole.

 

Also remember that change management is about people and people are different, and they adapt to change at different speeds. So whilst one member of staff might grasp the reason for the change when they receive that first memo it may take a different member of staff a little longer to fully get behind the change. Again repeating the message across multiple channels is crucial, to ensure you are getting the message across and understood by all of your team. Try to think of as many ways as possible you can make the case and remember the golden rule – once is not enough!

I don’t like (or trust) you

This is an emotional response and therefore perhaps potentially a little trickier to overcome. Ultimately this comes down to trust, and whether your workforce trusts you to lead them to a good future state. Perhaps they recall something that happened in the past that they didn’t like? Maybe the company wasn’t as upfront with them as they should have been when changes were made in the past? Why should they trust you this time around when you let them down in the past?The only way to overcome this type of resistance is to acknowledge it head on. Now is the time for rebuilding broken relationships and tending to neglected ones.

At the very beginning of the planning process of your change management program you should have assessed what the impact of this change should be on the various different stakeholders within your organisation. However, it is not enough to just assess how big impact is.  You must also be able to manage that impact and evaluating your relationships with these differing groups will be a core part in how you do so.

 

If there is damage to be fixed then taking responsibility for the mistakes of the past whilst simultaneously being seen to deliver on promises today is the only true way you can gain trust. However, as with the whole change management project itself establishing an effective change agent network can really help you get on track much faster and make the process of winning back trust much smoother.

I don’t like it

Firstly, if something is genuinely difficult to use, if it is clunky and unintuitive or overly complicated then this is going to be an issue. We cannot overlook the usability of any new technology when we look to invest in modernising our workflow.

So once again we return to a point we have already made within this series – bring in your field engineers, the guys that are going to be using this tech on a day to day basis, into the decision making process. By doing this and then effectively using a change agent network you can side step this issue and build genuine excitement amongst the staff for the new tools you are investing in for them.

[quote]You need to remove as much fear as possible about the new devices or applications whilst increasing the excitement around the change

And here in lies the key to overcoming this type of resistance. You need to remove as much fear as possible about the new devices or applications whilst increasing the excitement around the change by once again reaffirming what is in it for your workforce.

 

As we discussed when looking at engaging the head and the heart, our natural reaction to change is not the positive understanding of this being good for the organisation on some level. No, the first question we will ask will be “what exactly is this going to mean to me?”

If they feel they have been represented in not only in the selection, but also the configuration, deployment and roll out stages of the change management program then they will feel that their needs will have been considered, so once again we see the value of the change agent network.

Finally if you do see potential challenges in the short term then the only way to face these is head on. Work with your end-users and your provider to identify these challenges and how best to overcome them. Once more by bringing your field engineers into this process you will not only be overcoming challenges but also gaining trust throughout the process also. Meaning the next change management program you undertake will be that much easier!

 
Click here to download the white paper that accompanies this series

This series is sponsored by: 

As Field Service News Editor, Kris Oldland continues our exclusive series looking at Change Management we move onto the third major consideration when undertaking a change management program, establishing a change agent network...

There is also a corresponding white paper on this subject, which you can access by clicking this link and completing the brief registration form.

First of all lets have a quick recap. This series is focussed on managing change within your organisation and is based around the approach Sharon Moura, VP of IT Transformation and Strategy with Tyco took when the fire and safety giant moved to the ServiceMax field service management system.

Part one of the series explored some of the key principals of Change Management, including a look at some of the well-known approaches such as Kotter, Prosci and Lewin as well as looking at the five step approach which Moura took and which we are looking at in more detail in this series. In the following features we looked firstly at “Assessing the Change” and then the third feature of this Change Management series looked at “Engaging the Head & Heart”.

Now in this fourth instalment in our Change Management series we look at an area, which personally I believe to be perhaps, the most integral element to ensuring any change management program you undertake is a success. This is what Moura defines as building a change agent network. So lets look at this concept in a little more detail…

Understanding what a Change Agent is and why they are key to Change Management:

Well another term for a Change Agents would be Peer advocates and Gartner’s Elise Olding neatly sums up the approach stating,

“Change resistance is a myth. Employees support enterprise goals when they understand what needs to be done. Peer advocates put a face on change and leverage trusted informal leaders to create understanding among employees and influence organisational change”

In simplest terms when we are facing a change to our daily working lives, it’s not some distant figure from the boardroom that will convince us that this change has our interest at heart, it’s the people sat around us, those who we work with on a daily basis, our colleagues, our direct supervisors, our peers.

Indeed studies undertaken by change management specialists Prosci identified that the most effective communicators of change by a hefty margin were an employee’s immediate supervisor. However it is often the case that this tier of middle management is often left out of the change management process, more often than not because their primary role within the company absorbs of all their time. However. This is definitely not the way a successful change management program should flow.

 

These middle managers are absolutely key to establishing your change agent network and enabling the success of your change management program.

As Moura herself comments “If you are going to bring that level of middle management into the change management process at all, which of course you need to do, then they need to make sure change management is their number one area they should be spending their time on”

However, it is not just those in middle management that can form part of your change agent network. We touched on an example in the last feature within this series on change management to highlight some of the tools of persuasion that can be used to engage with employees on an emotional level. That example was for us to take a selection of end user employees such as field engineers and to bring them into the decision making process when selecting the new hardware to roll out to the field.

This is in effect building a change network in itself as you can almost guarantee if this group will feel both empowered and obligated to push through the change amongst their peers. Some of them may be supervisors and mid-level management; however, they could equally be regular employees.

What is important for your change management project is that they are (or have the potential to be) leaders and influencers amongst their peers. Active mouthpieces for why the change is a benefit to their peers on the individual level, so these are the audience you need to convince first. Show them that they will see and feel the benefit of your change management program and they will help spread the gospel amongst the wider staff.

Another key aspect of this approach is that by creating a change agent network your are opening up additional layers of information to assess how your change management program is being accepted and adopted as you move through the roll out. Feedback from your project team as to how you are progressing is of course important and expected. However, feedback from the employees is equally important as you can amend and adapt your strategy where necessary in response to what’s being well received and what is not.

 

As we mentioned in a previous feature within this series Change Management is an on-going process of evaluation and alteration, not a one shot effort. Similarly you must remember that change management is not about hard and fast rules that will work every time. Change management is about people and therefore different factions of your workforce, may adapt quicker than others. Certainly there is no “one-size-fits-all’ approach to either change management itself or the way you communicate it.

What makes a good Change Agent:

So who in your organisation would make a good change agent? A few suggestions as to what makes a good change agent are:

• A willingness to embrace change
• The desire to participate
• Good team players
• Mature responsible attitude
• Effective communicators
• Credible at grass roots level[/unordered_list]

Deploying your Change agent network:

Finally it’s worth taking time to consider how you will structure your change agent network. One of the most efficient means of doing so would likely be to distribute your change agent network within streams that each relate to a specific division within the business. For example, field engineers, dispatch, sales etc. In fact this is the approach that Moura took when rolling out ServiceMax to her team at Tyco.

“We created change agents by work streams” she explains “then we put change agent leaders in place in those work streams.”

“The responsibilities of those leaders was to anticipate issues, act as a sounding board for the organisation, provide suggestions and recommendations as to how we address the change, and of course communicating the change to the end users.”

This last point i.e. communicating the change is of course the primary reason for their endeavours and where they truly come into their own.

Simply ‘translating’ the reason your organisation is going through this change management process from corporate speak and into the workers language and outlining what is in it for them will take you a long way towards a successful change management project. Having that translation come from trusted and respected members of their work force will take it even farther.

Remember the lesson from the previous feature… change management is about people and people like people like them.

Therefore establishing a change agent network is absolutely integral to the success of your change management program. 

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This series on Change Management is sponsored by: